How to Minimize Corruption?

BIKASH CHOUDHURY


Corruption at high places has occupied the mind space of millions of ‘Aam Admi’ of this country, most part of the year 2010. IT IS ANY BODY’S GUESS IF THE YEAR 2011, a few days away would be any different. Rich and famous enjoy as infamous ‘Radia tape’ confirm recently; while people at the bottom of the pyramid pay heavy price and buy onions at Rs.80 a kilo, suffer with bad and pot holed roads, schools minus teachers, home without roof, hand pumps without water and lack of basic convenience for personal hygiene even for young women in rural and urban areas and river water unfit for consumption.
After witnessing daily doses of soap opera on corruption in plethora of 24x7 news channels millions of people feel a genuine disquiet inside; knowing fully well that CWG, Adarsha housing and 2G spectrum scams are just the tip of the ice berg. Much and many such or bigger scams go unnoticed from public eye. People in the know are also not surprised at the news of unholy collusion between politicians, Businessmen, Media and middlemen-read lobbyist to defraud the public exchequer. JPC or no JPC, these games and gamesmanship of siphoning of public money into private coffers would continue unabated; unless and until the very genesis of corrupt activities dealt with completely.
As popularly believed, the buck does not stop with politicians alone; though they are the most maligned species in our society. The buck stops at, we the people who eventually elect them to administer. The buck stops at our hypocritical electoral system wherein one has to shell out
Rs. 20-50 crore to get elected as member of legislative assembly or Member of Parliament and more over the political parties need five times the amount to survive in the competitive electoral politics practiced and pursued at present.
It has been repeated too often our country need an open &transparent mechanism to raise funds for genuine political activity and electoral politics which off late has become an expensive affair. Secondly, country badly need police reforms to stop undue and illegal political interference on routine law and order enforcement. Thirdly, we must have reforms in judicial system so that at least the perpetrators of heinous crimes are dealt with exemplary punishment within a time frame of six months to one year; in order to enforce the rule of law without any bias for caste or class and to create fear in the minds of potential law breakers. Without that, time and again innovative scamsters would surface in new avatars and we will see macabre greed for amassing wealth in our society. Let us hope New Year 2011 would bring some good news on this score.